Opera interna

Abstract

Opera Interna examines the point at which the bodily experience of self meets and intersects with the performed identity of a character. These large scale, very high definition digitally manipulated images question notions of the real on many different levels. The physical presence of the images is designed to have an emotional impact in itself, whilst their theatricality offers the viewer a critical distance from the subjects. The 'larger than life' scale of the images allows the audience to question the degree to which the emotion performed by each singer is 'genuine'. I became interested in the slippage in the artifice of wig, make up etc. as they are disturbed during the act of performing. The vulnerability and 'humanness' suggested by these 'mistakes' seems to raise interesting questions about the extent to which people unconsciously communicate emotional or mental states in addition to those they are conscious of performing. Singers performed individually for the camera, but in this case locations were added later. Techniques such as the digital relocation of the figure into a different setting and flat lighting are used to emphasise these themes of artifice and reality. Made possible by a residency at Welsh National Opera. Supported by a Small Grant in the Creative and Performing Arts from the Arts & Humanities Research Board.